I lost my sight when I was four by falling off a box car in a freight（货物）yard in Atlantic City. Now I am thirty two. I can slightly remember what color red is. It would be wonderful to see again, but a disaster can do strange things to people. I might not have come to love life as I do if I hadn’t been blind. I don’t mean that I would prefer to go without my eyes. I simply mean that the loss of them made me appreciate the more what I had left.

         Life, I believe, asks constant adjustments to reality. The adjustment is never easy. I was totally confused and afraid. But I was lucky. My parents and my teachers saw something in me—a potential to live, and they made me want to fight it out with blindness.

         The hardest lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. If I hadn’t been able to do that, I would have become a chair rocker on the front porch for the rest of my life. When I say belief in myself, I mean: an assurance that I am, despite imperfections, a real, positive person; that somewhere in the intricate（错综复杂的） pattern of people there is a special place where I can make myself fit.

         It took me years to discover and strengthen this assurance. Once a man gave me an indoor baseball. I thought he was making fun of me and I was hurt. “I can’t use this.” I said. “Take it with you,” he urged me, “and roll it around.” The words stuck in my head. “Roll it around!” By rolling the ball I could hear where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought impossible: playing baseball. At Philadelphia’s Overbrook School for the Blind I invented a new kind of baseball. We called it ground ball.

         All my life I have set a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time. I had to learn my limitations. It was no good trying for something that I knew at the start was out of reach. I would fail sometimes anyway but on the average I made progress.

1.We can learn from the beginning of the passage that _______

A. the author lost his sight because of a car crash.             

B. the author wouldn’t love life if the disaster didn’t happen.

C. the disaster made the author appreciate what he had.

D. the disaster strengthened the author’s desire to see.

2.What’s the most difficult thing for the author?

A. How to adjust himself to reality.

B. Building up assurance that he can find his place in life.

C. Learning to manage his life alone.

D. How to invent a new kind of baseball.

3.According to the context, “a chair rocker on the front porch” in paragraph 3 means that the author _________.

A. would sit in a rocking chair and enjoy his life.        

B. would be unable to move and stay in a rocking chair.

C. would lose his will to struggle against difficulties.

D. would sit in a chair and stay at home.

4.What is the best title for the passage?

A. A Miserable Life                           B. Struggle Against Difficulties

C. A Disaster Makes a Strong Person          D. An Unforgettable Experience

C
Not long ago, the world’s lowest-priced car was launched（投放市场） in Mumbai, India．The Nano, made by Tata Motors, is expected to cause a transportation revolution for millions of Indian families．The small three-meter long car will cost 2,000 dollars, which is about half the price of similar cars．That is expected to make car ownership possible for more Indians．So it is being called “The People’s Car．”
Ratan Tata, Tata Motors chairman, says, “It was never thought of as being the cheapest car but a car that would give the people of India an opportunity to own a car that had not been within their reach before．I hope that is what we will achieve．” Industry observers predict that soon roads throughout the country could be filled with Nanos．Tata, India’s top automaker, has done almost no traditional advertising of the Nano．However, early interest in the vehicle has been huge．The company says the Nano’s website has been visited 30 million times．
Tata Motors says it will begin taking orders for the car on April 9th both at car dealerships and on the Internet．However, the cars will not be ready for purchase（购买） until July．Demand is expected to be far greater than supply．Ratan Tata says the first 100,000 buyers of the car will be chosen by chance．The car is expected to be popular in industrial as well as developing nations．Experts say demand for low-priced automobiles is likely to increase as the international economic crisis continues．
However, some critics say the new cars will increase India’s traffic and pollution problems．However, Tata company officials say the Nano will produce less pollution than any other car in the country．
62．The Nano is called “The people’s Car” because it _____．
A．has been designed by common people
B．has caused a transportation revolution
C．can be available to more population
D．can offer more convenience
63．In Paragraph 2 Ratan Tata seems to ______．
A．explain the main goal of designing the Nano
B．give more information about the Nano
C．talk about the quality of the Nano
D．introduce the company’s future plan
64．Which of the following about the Nano is NOT mentioned?
A．Its website is very popular．
B．It has invited critics．
C．It will be sold abroad．
D．It can only offer four seats inside．
65．What is the main idea of this passage?
A．A new car is beyond your wildest dream．
B．India launches the lowest-priced car．
C．Welcome to the Nano website．
D．The tiniest car will be on sale．

Now we’re always hearing about road accident, and when we’re in a car we try to drive carefully, but how many of us take the same degree of care in our homes? Any large hospital will tell you the number of the accidents that happen in the home is almost the same as those on the road.

One of the commonest and most dangerous causes of home accidents is wrong and careless use of electrical equipment. People will continue to use a loose plug or pull out a plug without first turning off the power. In spite of warnings, one will carry an electric heater into the bathroom when he is going to have a bath. Sometimes one forgets to cut off the power before mending a lamp or something else. All this will cause accidents. So the rule about anything that work by electricity is：Switch off before you touch anything and don’t pretend you know when you actually don’t.

If you’ve got children in the house, it's always best to keep medicines of any kind out of their reach. Otherwise, they may be taken for candies or a new kind of drink. When there are older people living with you, you have to take particular care in a number of ways in order to make them safe and happy.

Fire, of course, is always a risk. So, remember not to dry clothes in front of fires, or leave stoves in the middle of rooms where they can easily be knocked over. And don’t forget to keep the children away from fire. Smoking, too, may cause fire. So you’d better give it up. Safety first may mean a little more time and care, but it may save you a lot of trouble.

1.According to the writer, we try to drive carefully in a car while __________.

2.We can learn from the text that __________.

3.It can be inferred in the text that our life at home will be much safer if __________.

4.The main purpose of writing the text is __________.

RINGSTEAD BAY, DORSET
A picturesque 210 ft crescent (弦月状) of pebbles with clean water--- that’s a perfect escape from some of the busier beaches around Weymouth. You reach it by passing through the village of Upton, then along a narrow country road. Next to the car park is a well-stocked shop. The cliffs behind RINGSTEAD Bay are an excellent place for fossil hunting.
Accommodation: Glenburn Hotel (01305 832318, www. Glenburnhotel.com) with doubles from ￡79 including breakfast.
BRANSCOMBE, DEVON
Lying on the East Devon Heritage Coast, Branscombe has good facilities with toilets and a car park close to the beach, as well as a small picnic area. A well-stocked shop sells the most attractive dairy ice cream. Next to the shop is the Sea Shanty restaurant—open every day until 5 pm during the summer.
Accommodation: The Mason’s Arms, Branscombe Village (01297 680300, www. Masonsarms. Co.uk) with doubles from ￡65 pp with breakfast.
【小题1】Which beach is the most wonderful place for summer bathing?

The United States is full of cars. There are still many families without cars, but some families have two or more. However, cars are used for more than pleasure. They are a necessary part of life.

Cars are used for business. They are driven to offices and factories by workers who have no other way to get to their jobs. When salesmen are sent to different parts of the city, they have to drive in order to carry their products. Farmers have to drive into the city in order to get supplies.

Sometimes small children must be driven to school. In some cities school buses are used only when children live more than a mile away from the school. When the children are too young to walk too far, their mothers take turns driving them to school. One mother drives on Mondays taking her own children and the neighbors' as well. Another mother drives on Tuesdays, another on Wednesday, and so on. This is called forming a car pool. Men also form car pools, with three or four men taking turns driving to the place where they all work.

More car pools should be formed in order to put fewer cars on the road and use less gas. Too many cars are being driven. Something will have to be done about the use of cars.

The United States is filled with cars, but             .

       A. not every family has a car       B. few families have two cars or even more

       C. every American has a car      D. every family has a car

What's the main idea of the second paragraph?

       A. Workers drive cars to offices and factories   B. Salesmen drive to carry their products.

       C. Farmers drive into cities to get supplies.     D. Cars are widely used.

Which statement is true according to the third paragraph?

       A. Small children are driven to school. 

B. All children go to school by bus in some cities.

       C. Mothers drive their children who can't walk to school. 

D. School buses pick up all children.

Mothers form car pools in order that             .

       A. they can drive to school   

B. they can take turns driving their children to school

       C. they reach school quickly  

D. they can drive their children to school in time

The traffic in and around cities is a great problem because              .

       A. too many cars are being driven       B. there are too many car pools

       C. people put fewer cars on the roads   D. there is less gas